Joyride - Pt. 2 – Jesus' P.E.D.
I. Introduction
Life is up and down. Loops, turns, cliff like drops. Our life often feels much like one of those white knuckle, scream your lungs out, lose your lunch type of amusement rides! It is into that type of experience that Jesus came onto the scene and made us one of the greatest promises next to salvation! I read it to you last week!
II. Text
John 15:11
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
You will remember that I told you that it is was important to backtrack and hear what He told us (on purpose) so that we could find out what prerequisites we must meet to obtain fullness of joy.
In the proceeding verses Jesus informs us that fullness of joy is found when we are willing to embrace and appreciate pruning? Jesus makes it clear that our Father in our best interest will make cuts out of our lives. During good and bad seasons He will remove things so that our joy can grow. We can't fight the cuts. He then says we must be rooted in Him. He even tells us how to tell we are rooted. We know we are rooted when His Words are at home in you. Your level of joy is directly proportional to the Word that has made its home in you. No Word = No Joy. Little Word = Little Joy. Much Word = Much Joy. A Wordless life can't help but be a joyless life. Then Jesus says we are rooted when We become obedient to His commands. Obedience is a key component for joy!
So this morning after hearing that fullness of joy is the promise my question is simply this . . . what's the big deal about joy? Why did I tell you that joy is such a great promise? Come on preacher tell me about the important promises of Jesus! Tell me how Jesus promises us salvation and I will shout. Tell me about Jesus’ healing ability and I will dance. Talk to me about abundant life, prosperity, or any other promise that are part of my inheritance and I will respond with hunger, anticipation, and longing. But fullness of joy? We almost pass by this significant blessing with little fanfare, little desire, or understanding of the implications of this great gift.
I submit to you this morning that joy is underestimated. We don't have a healthy appreciation for what Jesus is promising us! Jesus was in fact revealing/pushing a PED for our soul!
Let me see if I can explain.
I want to try to tie a statement in the Old Testament to a statement about Jesus in the New Testament that is a revelation of just how crucial this promise is for us today!
I will come back to the background of this passage in detail in Week 4 but for today let it suffice to say that after 70 years of bondage the Children of Israel are trying to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem and are now about to tackle the rebuild of the temple. They ask Ezra to read Scripture to them and after an extended sermon they fall on their faces and repent. And after that response Ezra makes a statement that has become one of the most quoted statements about joy in the entirety of Scripture.
Nehemiah 8:10
He continued, “Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don’t have anything: This day is holy to God. Don’t feel bad. The joy of the Lord is your strength!”
There it is in black and white . . . the importance of joy. Ezra got it. He understood that joy is the PED for our soul. (Slide 9) Our strength level is determined by our joy level. And yet, even though we quote this and perhaps even nod in agreement I still don't think we really get it! So let's fast forward to the New Testament and see if we can grasp what we are messing with in joy. This promise of fullness of joy should change how we live, what we are willing to face, and effect our estimation of what we can overcome.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Did you see it? It was right there in Verse 2. Jesus endured the cross and the shame associated with it because of joy.
No you missed it. Jesus endured the cross and the shame associated with it because of joy.
Maybe a third time is the charm. Jesus endured the cross and the shame associated with it because of joy.
Stop and think about that statement. Jesus endured the cross. Stop. The cross. We have cleaned up and sanitized the process of crucifixion. We want bloodless, painless crucifixion. We grow squeamish when someone even attempts to portray the brutality and they don't even begin to get close to the gruesome inhumanity of death by cross. The tearing of flesh, the muscle spasms, the need to literally push up on a spike protruding from your feet in order to get a breath, the inability to touch your wounds, exposure to the blistering sun, the insect attracted to the stench, the blood, the sweat. The searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet. Cramps sweep through muscles, knotting them with deep relentless, throbbing pain. Tissue is torn from a lacerated back as the crucified moves up and down against rough timber. If that wasn't enough all of this is played out in public. Assumed guilty. Ridiculed. The laughingstock. A life taken in a sideshow, circus type setting. Parents, siblings, friends watch helplessly their loved one faces certain and slow death. And even worse in Jesus' case He not only endures the physical pain of crucifixion but simultaneously endures the weight of the entire world's sin and for the first time in eternity experiences the utter darkness of separation from His Father.
Was it His will power that pulled Him through? Was it the Holy Spirit? Was it the glow of a good worship service? Was it angels? No, Jesus was able to endure all of this because of joy! Which leads me to say to you . . .
If Jesus' joy enabled Him to face death, then surely His joy in you can empower you to face life!
I just came to tell you this morning that if you know the Lord of joy then you also have at your disposal at this very moment the joy of The Lord! We underestimate the strength that is in us! The joy that enabled Christ to hang on the cross until death is the same joy that resides in you this morning. We don't tap into it. We underestimate it. We lose it without a fight and think we have lost nothing.
Jesus' comprehension and reality of joy enabled Him to endure what may be the most brutal method of punishment ever devised. Our lack of appreciation or use of joy means when someone looks at us wrong on a Sunday morning we are unable to say anything nice for a month. Jesus' joy empowered Him to hang on nails. We so underestimate our joy that a hang nail derails us! Jesus' joy was so strong that He could wordlessly take a beating. Our lack of understanding of the joy that is in us causes us to tuck tail and run at the first sign of trouble. Our attitude is too strong to change (I am just like this). Our environment is too strong. Scowling faces. Angry boss. Zeroes in the checkbook. Pink slips. A domineering spouse. A back talking kid. And we are done for the week. Ready to throw in the towel. Ready to back up. Ready to walk away. Ready to declare that the world is coming to an end.
Listen I just came to remind you today that if you know The Lord you have a PED! You have a performance enhancing deposit of joy. The joy of The Lord is strength! The joy of The Lord is so strong that if you would tap into it, understand it you can make it through. You can face it. You can endure till the end. Why . . . the world didn't give it to you and the world shouldn't be able to take it away. The joy of The Lord is your secret weapon! Not your joy. His joy is in you! That is why like David when faced with broken dreams, broken plans, death, and punishment we must cry out to God . . . He could have cried out for God to restore many things. However, his cry was God restore unto me the joy of my salvation! We need joy. When we need to be strong we need joy.
Some of you feel weak right now. You need joy. Some of you are exhausted. You need joy. Some of you are facing giants. You need joy.
We ask Jesus for a lot of things. Have you asked Him to restore your joy?
